A semi-retired Russian three-star general oversaw the cross-border movements of a rocket launcher used to bring down a passenger jet in 2014 over eastern Ukraine, killing all aboard, an investigation by a team of reporting outlets has found. The reporting team, made up of McClatchy and investigative websites Bellingcat (based in London) and The Insider (based in Moscow), identifies the general as Nikolai Fedorovich Tkachev. His identification is potentially a breakthrough in a case that has… (www.msn.com) 更多...

Ever been itching to know what the view from the flight deck is like when you’re coming in to land? Dave Wallsworth feels your pain Dave Wallsworth is filming from the flight deck of an A380 to help nervous flyers and share the view. (www.independent.co.uk) 更多...

This is not an airliner news and normally shouldn't be mentioned here on "Airliner Watch". But it is strictly related to the airliner wars between Boeing and Bombardier, and makes the headline. (airlinerwatch.com) 更多...

Qatar is to buy 50 Airbus a321neo planes with an option for a further 30. The deal was one of several announced on Thursday during a state visit to Qatar by French President Emmanuel Macron. (news.sky.com) 更多...

Since the beginning of the year, the German pilots have refused to make more than 200 flights returning refugees to Afghanistan, while the country continues to fight against the massive migrations triggered by the conflicts in the Middle East. (airlinerwatch.com) 更多...

Step inside (which you can do in the interactive 3-D model below) and you'll see that the upper floor looks pretty normal, with the cockpit and a few seats. Head down the stairs to the main floor, though, and you'll see the key changes its owner, Global Supertanker LLC, made when it converted the Japan Airlines passenger plane to a firefighter in 2016. (www.wired.com) 更多...

As planes crisscross the globe, their exterior graphics not only represent the companies that operate them but in many instances also serve as visual ambassadors for their respective homelands. A great airline livery gives onlookers a taste of a carrier's values or its culture's ethos in an attractive and effective colour scheme. Airlines like Southwest, Spirit, and American have updated their liveries in recent years, with mixed results. Others have hit home runs. Here's a selection of 16… (www.msn.com) 更多...

Cathay Pacific flight from San Francisco to Hong Kong saw what they believed was a North Korean ballistic missile re-entering the Earth's atmosphere last Wednesday, the airline said Monday. (www.cnn.com) 更多...

With a fan of composite material more than 11 feet (3.35 meters) in diameter, General Electric GE9X is the largest engine in the world. This is the new engine of the Boeing 777X. It will be the largest and most efficient dual-aisle aircraft operating in the world, according to the North American manufacturer (airlinerwatch.com) 更多...

the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) conducted the first test of a collision between a UAV (drone) and a passenger plane at the Xiangbei Experimental Base of Aviation Industry. This was done to determine the effects of a quad-copter drone hitting the front windshield of a passenger plane in flight. (news.aviation-safety.net) 更多...

The Malaysian flag carrier took delivery of its first of six A350s from lease company Air Lease Corporation, ahead of the aircraft’s deployment on its Kuala Lumpur-London Heathrow route on January 15 next year. (www.airguideonline.com) 更多...

Qatar Airways' first Airbus A350-1000 launched its maiden flight on December 10, 2017, before a scheduled delivery at the end of the month. Qatar Airways has released a video of the inaugural flight. (airlinerwatch.com) 更多...

A man's reaction to an apparently racist woman at a US airport apparently caused onlookers to burst into applause, and has attracted hundreds of thousands of shares online. Emmit Eclass Walker said he was approached by a woman at a Washington airport who assumed he was not a first class passenger. He believes it was due to the colour of his skin. "Excuse me, I believe you may be in the wrong place... this line is for priority boarding," she told him, according to his Facebook post. Mr… (www.msn.com) 更多...

Stirling Dynamics has been awarded a new contract from WheelTug to deliver a new nose wheel design for the Boeing 737NG family of aircraft,which is powered by the aircraft’s Auxiliary Power Unit (APU), and aims to save time, engine life and fuel use resulting in reduced emissions and significant cost savings for aircraft operators. (www.stirling-dynamics.com) 更多...

Travelers looking to use their fancy new smart luggage may soon face a hard time getting the bags on a plane due to safety concerns about their batteries. According to CNN, American, Delta and Alaska Airlines have all announced that starting January 15th, passengers checking smart luggage will have to remove the lithium-ion batteries (or keep them powered down if traveling in the cabin). The site also says that United Continental and Southwest Airlines both plan to announce similar policies… (www.engadget.com) 更多...

A woman was caught smoking on a flight from Portland to Sacramento on Saturday resulting in an in-flight freak-out and threats to “kill everyone on this plane” when she was escorted to law enforcement upon landing, Southwest Airlines confirmed. (www.aviationrepublic.com) 更多...

The veteran 747 captain is one of only four Qantas pilots qualified to captain the airline's most unusual flight route – a 13-hour jaunt to Antarctica and back. Tour company Antarctica Flights charters a Qantas jumbo jet a few times a year to take tourists on a sightseeing tour of the world's coldest, most remote continent. It's an opportunity to get a bird's-eye view of this frozen wasteland and get a real sense of the awesome size and harshness of the landscape. "People don't realise how… (www.msn.com) 更多...

Malaysia Airlines will continue to fly its Airbus A380s to London as the airline steps back from plans to spin off the superjumbos into a new airline dedicated to Islamic pilgrimages. (www.ausbt.com.au) 更多...

Bostonians lost the A350 on the BOS-DOH route to the 787-8 due to Qatari equipment shuffles back in October, with no return in sight. Speculation would have the A350 return in spring/summer months, but this week, schedules abruptly changed and the A350 is back on for the foreseeable future. The first A350 return service is shown here. (www.youtube.com) 更多...

A two-year sales drought for the flagship A-380 superjumbo may have increased pressure at Airbus to keep the programme flying, but the European plane maker remains upbeat about its long-term prospects. (www.straitstimes.com) 更多...

After a slew of cancellations over the summer, Horizon Air operations are finally showing signs of stability. The airline even picked up a bunch of pilots who lost their jobs when Island Air shut down. The carrier also plans to resume delivery of their Embraer E-175s starting in March 2018 as well as commence the retirement of 13 of their oldest Q400 turboprops. (www.seattletimes.com) 更多...

New Zealand’s Transport Accident Investigation Commission says on its website that it is investigating two “engine abnormality” incidents involving Air NZ 787-9s that occurred on 5 and 6 December. (www.flightglobal.com) 更多...

In a video posted to YouTube by British Airways, captain Dave Wallsworth shares his awe-inspiring view from the flight deck. Watch as he and Senior First Officers Jeremy Goodson and Phil Gillespie interact with air traffic control to skillfully land one of our A380 aircraft in Johannesburg. (www.thesouthafrican.com) 更多...

The labor union representing American Airlines mechanics and ground crews has hired a firm run by the former U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security to investigate if foreign repair work on planes is putting passengers at risk. (dfw.cbslocal.com) 更多...

KLM explains in a statement that it no longer sees "added value" from this accessory. Starting from the beginning of the new year, the airline operator wants to give a "more modern" appearance to its pilots by removing the cap from pilot uniforms. (airlinerwatch.com) 更多...

Seychelles is set to get another direct flight to Europe when Switzerland’s leisure airline, Edelweiss Air, begins flights to the island nation from September next year. (www.seychellesnewsagency.com) 更多...

Virgin Atlantic crew have filmed one of their standard days and it looks exhausting. The staff were manning a Dreamliner flight from London to Los Angeles from start to finish. Cameras follow 25-year-old Emma Ashley and her colleagues from their 8am start at Heathrow... (www.thesun.co.uk) 更多...

Canadian low-cost carrier WestJet is at the forefront of a business war against some new upstart, no-frills low-cost carriers. Utilizing a plan described as 'radical,' WestJet hopes to tap into several customer groups ranging from price-sensitive travelers (through their own ultra low-cost subsidiary Swoop) to the wealthy (via mainline). (www.bloomberg.com) 更多...

Oman Air, the national carrier of the Sultanate of Oman, continues its ambitious expansion plans in 2017 with a new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner joined the fleet on 6th December 2017. (aviationtribune.com) 更多...

New Delhi: Two senior commanders and a flight engineer of Air India have been grounded for flying an aircraft with a crack on its fuselage. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and the airline are probing this lapse as the crew reportedly operated the flight even after discovering the crack on the main body section of the Airbus A-319 during a pre-flight walk around inspection. (epaper.timesgroup.com) 更多...

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has hailed the move by the African Union to open up the airspace on the continent. The deal establishing a single air transport market for Africa is expected to be endorsed during the Heads of State summit in Ethiopia early next year, according to Abderahmane Berthe, the African Airlines Association secretary general. So far, 20 African countries out of 55 have endorsed the African single air market. Berthe said a single air transport market is… (allafrica.com) 更多...

Japan will consider joining a U.S.-proposed project to build a new space station orbiting the moon, hoping such a move will boost the chances of sending Japanese astronauts to the lunar surface. (www.airguideonline.com) 更多...

Qantas expects to choose in 2019 between the Airbus A350 and Boeing 777X for the aircraft to meet its requirement to introduce nonstop flights between eastern Australia and London by 2022. (www.airguideonline.com) 更多...

Seeking to boost "public awareness" of legal small unmanned aircraft system (sUAS) operations, the U.S. FAA is urging sUAS pilots to wear reflective safety vests when flying their aircraft. "By taking this simple action, sUAS [pilots] can demonstrate that they are accepting responsibility for the activity and that they are intending to operate in a safe and compliant manner," the FAA said in a newly released safety information for operators bulletin. (www.ainonline.com) 更多...

AeroMéxico (AM, México City) is considering acquiring CSeries jets from Bombardier (BBA, Montréal Trudeau) as part of its Regional Jet fleet renewal plans. Sources familiar with the Mexican carrier's operations told Reuters it had held preliminary talks to acquire an unspecified number of the aircraft from equity partner Delta Air Lines (DL, Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson) which has seventy-five CS100s currently on firm order. (www.ch-aviation.com) 更多...

The first Boeing 787 flew back in 2009, entering the scene as the expected replacement of the Boeing 747—an aircraft that was steeped in history but was also aging rapidly. Since then, we’ve seen the 787 evolve to accommodate the needs of airlines looking to create longer routes and travelers who are willing to fly insanely long distances non-stop. The Boeing 787-9 is the next step in super-long distance air travel, and it won’t be the last. Will 20-hour flights become the new normal? Hello,… (www.historyinorbit.com) 更多...

Virgin Australia says that passengers would only be allowed to use the bags as carry-on luggage. "In the event that the guest's smart bag is too heavy, the lithium battery must be removed and carried as a spare battery in carry-on baggage. If the lithium battery cannot be removed, the smart bag cannot be carried on our aircraft," the airline said. Qantas will not allow cases on its planes at all if the batteries cannot be removed. The local airlines follow those in the US which… (www.msn.com) 更多...